Toxic plant found growing in park

Toxic plant found growing in park

The hogweed plant is a hollow-stemmed pest which can grow to more than five metres in height and has small white flower clusters in an umbrella-shaped head.Photo by

City of Ottawa inspectors have discovered toxic giant hogweed in a city park and on private property.

Juices from the plant, which can grow to huge heights, can cause permanent blindness, burns and scarring.

A memo distributed to city council members on Tuesday said residents are warned to stay clear of the weeds at first and call 3-1-1 for more information.

“Giant hogweed is a perennial which can grow from one to 5.5 metres and can be harmful to humans if they come into contact with the plant,” the memo says.

“If you come into contact with the plant you could experience severe burns to your skin. Contact with the eyes can cause temporary or permanent blindness.”

Mayoral candidate Alex Cullen had a painful experience eliminating giant hogweed from his mother’s property in the Eastern Townships. Cullen said his grandmother, who lived in Rotterdam, brought the plant from the Netherlands many years ago.

“The Dutch name for it is berenklauw which means bear claw,” Cullen said. “I spent five years getting rid of it about a dozen years ago. At first I wore shorts and a T-shirt and got horrible blisters.

“Sunlight irritated the the blisters and when they burst they caused a brown stain on my skin that took a couple of months to disappear. I had to take Benadryl to ease the itching and learned to wear gloves, long pants, long sleeves to protect myself.”

David Barkley, the city’s manager of forestry services, said city staff removed the umbrella-shaped seed heads and sprayed the weeds with Roundup to kill them in an unidentified park within the Greenbelt and on a private lot on the west side of the city.

Barkley said he would not identify the park because he doesn’t want people to look for and possibly touch the plants.

The plant takes about four years to produce flowers so it is best to spray it as soon as possible to control its spread, Barkley said.

Contact with the weed’s clear, watery sap can be very dangerous, said Jeff Muzzi, Renfrew County’s forestry manager and weed inspector.

“What it does to you is pretty ugly,” said Muzzi. “It causes blisters. Large blisters and permanent scarring. What’s left over looks like a scar from a chemical burn or fire.”

Even a tiny trace of sap applied to the eye can singe the cornea, causing temporary or permanent blindness, he added. The chemicals in the sap, furocoumarins, are carcinogenic and teratogenic, meaning they can cause cancer and birth defects.

Ontario does not classify giant hogweed as a noxious weed and has not authorized weed inspectors to destroy the poisonous weeds because they do not interfere with agriculture.

Barkley said Ottawa bylaw officials will explain to property owners that they should wear protective clothing and gloves to cut off the flowers and spray the weeds to kill them. He added the city could use its property-standards bylaw to force homeowners to eliminate giant hogweed.

“The weed found on private property was planted in a garden,” Barkley said. “The concern is that some of these plants are sold in nurseries because they have a flower on them and are somewhat nice-looking.

“Some people will even move them from the side of the road into their own gardens.”

Native to the Caucasus region and Central Asia, giant hogweed was brought to Europe and North America as a botanical curiosity in the 19th and 20th centuries and has spread rapidly. It typically grows on riverbanks, ditches and roadsides.

Giant hogweed has previously been spotted in Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Quebec, southwestern Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. About 50 plants were spotted in Toronto’s Don Valley two weeks ago.

The new Evergreen Line SkyTrain extension underwent a trial by snow on its first full day of commuter...

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.